So you only consider in person coaches to be actual coaches?
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Ooooof…lots to unpack here.
Lots of good coaches allow text/calls and meet via Zoom. If Covid has taught us anything, it’s that work can be done very effectively while remote. It’s not like an in person coach is going to ride next to you and shout out your next interval.
If communication is seriously restricted, like 1 email per month or something, that’s no better than TR and their forum.
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Bad wording and phrasing on my part. My apologies.
You can certainly coach virtually but I personally believe coaching is best and you get better results in person.
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I can see that but in person is often far more expensive. Sure there are things like masters swim classes and run groups. Cycling I’m not sure at least as far as amateurs go. Any one on one in person coaching is typically very expensive. It’s certainly helpful but it’s just not feasible for most most being coaches and athletes
I’ve had a coach for years mostly as I just like somebody else just telling me what to do. We communicate primarily via text and I think it works great. She adjusts my workouts based on feedback from me but also the data she sees.
I’d counter that the real programming was genetic from your parents. You didn’t see me pulling up a chair at the #StruggleIsReal study groups, my engineering college classmates, and telling them a $40 book and going to class was all they needed. It was for me but not for them. Not everybody is born with the same natural talents. 
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my feelings exactly.
Haha, sorry if that’s not a helpful reply. I just think that you pretty casually disregarded someone’s experience and hard work in a post that strangely became about how smart you are for some reason.
I get that you post on every single thread in this entire forum about how we should all get coaches. I’ve seen your little story about how TrainerRoad over trained you (or whatever your history is) 100 times.
TR clearly works for some people, but I guess we’re not all geniuses who can get an engineering degree with a $40 book, so if someone’s successful on a TR training plan they’re just a genetic freak. No need to take anyone else’s experience into account if it disagrees with your experience.
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My message is that if TR works for you then embrace it. I recommend it to people. Seriously. You’ll see results, I did coming off each off-season.
I was drawn to subscribe to TR after reading the CEO posting he did a year of sweet spot base training and that got him to the next level. They laugh about it on the podcast but Nate had the guts to experiment and find a way to achieve the results he wanted.
If something doesn’t give the results you expected, ignore the ones that succeeded, time to try and figure out what why. At some point you will likely need to experiment and figure out what does work for you. If you get frustrated experimenting, then consider a coach, it might save you a lot of time and frustration.
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I was trying to compare when I was coached vs when I “self coached”. Both were prescribed, I have more experience now.
Yes I have a basic genetic ability to perform, however I also trained with dedication/purpose between 8 and 10 hours a week constantly for for about 6 months with some weeks going over 12 hours.
Genetics only take you so far, without putting in the work you will fail.
For the fondo it was entirely TR programmed with some outdoor rides replacing indoors as long easy rides.
I’m not here to say look at me, aren’t I great, but to directly compare results from coached vs TR.
I understand that people have monetary issues, however if you want to get good, TR is extremely cost effective.
Also a textbook and going to class is all you need to pass, but you still need to put in the effort outside the class to get a good grade.
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Would it surprise you to know that corporations play those currency valuations to make money?
It’s all supposedly legal too. I guess until you are caught? Apple shielded billions of dollars of profit in Ireland for example. The right people in government gave them a HUGEMONGOUS tax break to ‘repatriate’ that money.
I moved to TR back at the start of the pandemic as I couldn’t afford to stick with my coach due to a salary cut. I’ve found the app so good that I’ve stuck with it and feel it offers real VFM. Understand that I am in a more privileged position than some that I can stick with it, but I’d certainly look to make savings elsewhere before leaving TR if times get even harder.
sorry I was having a rough day at work and really bad allergies, when I first read your post it felt like a mic drop / end the thread type of post. It doesn’t look like that now. Apologies.
Slow responders with average genetics? The struggle is real, not matter if it is athletics or academics. Over 2 years I’ve averaged 7+ hours/week of dedicated and purposeful work under a coach, and surprisingly achieved similar performance with far less hard work, versus my personal best year of 2017 when I was self-coached using the approach in the CTS Time-Crunched Cyclist book. Those 2016-2017 years I worked even harder than a TR plan. Followed by two years with mostly TR MV level training. The last two years with a coach, I have to say we achieved far more (both bike performance and overall health) with less hard work than anything I’ve previously done.
I’m ready to go back to self-coaching, using my own programming, based on all I’ve learned. I don’t really think I’m that special of a snowflake. Just someone that needed proper programming to build an aerobic engine over a much slower and more deliberate timeframe.
For those that can’t afford TR, I’m a big fan of the plans in the Time-Crunched Cyclist book, and the blog posts on their TrainRight.com website. The most effective and least expensive programming in my experience.
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Hi, leveraging on this post, is a revamp to workout creator currently in the pipeline (possibly also creating workouts via mobile)?
Thanks
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Its long overdue.
Hey @jz91! With much of our focus being on making Workout Levels V2 
, revamping Workout Creator is not currently in the pipeline.
And yet i remember reading a TR post on here over 3 years ago saying that it was on the roadmap for an update…
Don’t hold your breath 
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Thanks, what’s the v2 update?
Still rather sad though about the workout creator 
Workout Levels Version 2.0 is the name for TR reading any and all workouts and adjusting Progression Levels accordingly.
- This largely includes unstructured rides and workouts not performed by actually using TR outside workouts. Things like races, group rides and other non-workout related ride data imported into your TR calendar. All of this is presently ignored and not applied to PL’s.
- It will also include better analysis of TR workouts (inside & outside) when the rider exceeds or falls short of the power targets.
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